


Scratching the Surface of Forever

by lilacsandlavender



Series: Bates Motel One-shots (that make me miss the show even more) [8]
Category: Bates Motel (2013)
Genre: F/M, are they that out of character?, but do i care?, i just want them all cute and fluffy, listen carefully, probably, this is the closest I'm getting to writing smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:01:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29392386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilacsandlavender/pseuds/lilacsandlavender
Summary: Eight months after marrying Alex Romero means the beginning of many happy mornings for Norma Bates, and one day in August begins with delighted and eager smiles on their faces as they share a special moment together.
Relationships: Norma Bates/Alex Romero
Series: Bates Motel One-shots (that make me miss the show even more) [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2014042
Comments: 11
Kudos: 10





	Scratching the Surface of Forever

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to write a soft, little post-sex scene from Norma's perspective and also a Normero shower scene for a while, so I ended up combining both ideas and this was the result. Nothing too explicit...hope you like it! :)

It’s a gentle but firm breeze that glides through Norma Bates’ bedroom window on an early August morning, and from her bed, out of the corner of her eye, Norma admires how her new curtains flutter from the welcome disturbance in the air. It’s been a warm summer, to say the least, so she keeps the windows open most nights to encourage any drafts made refreshingly cool by the water into her home. The change in atmosphere isn’t really the cause of her current contentment, though. It can’t be, not when her stomach is filled with its own sensation of fluttering and attention fully taken with the view directly above her.

Norma can’t name another person other than Alex who has been able to make her feel so warm and fuzzy inside after sex. Sure, some of the sex she’d had in the past was good – in fact she’d had many hot and passionate encounters – but laying here with the man that Norma knows prioritizes her happiness and welfare above all else causes the embodiment of the word “intimacy” to rise to an unparalleled level inside her. Alex, with his sweet smile that reaches beyond his eyes, studies her breathless form from his overhead position, and while in her prior days Norma would have shied away from such intensity, this inspection reflects only the fulfillment of her life-long desire to be loved for all her faults and shortcomings. Reflective thoughts such as these aren’t recent or a rarity, for the couple’s eight months of marriage have been filled with many satisfied mornings, but each passing union feels like a fresh epiphany of all Alex’s vocalized and unvoiced promises that leaves Norma wondering how she can possibly consider previous sexual interactions to be half as memorable. Then it dawns on her that they’re simply incomparable. 

She thinks back to the time when Emma had asked her what having sex for the first time should feel like and how she’d felt slightly sick remembering how her teen years had been spent being forced into sex by her brother. She thinks about how sex had been merely a chore with Sam, one to keep his anger levels down, and even with George or Shelby she’d felt a twinge of disgust with herself after the deed was done, for there wasn’t any true loving intimacy in those relationships. Now all she can think about is how the freeing and delightful feeling of being joined with Alex in this way has opened up that part of her that swore she’d never have emotionally mind-blowing sex; and her body no longer feels vulnerable in this state of nakedness but instead finds itself yearning for a repeat performance of the worshipping it’s just received.

She shifts her focus back to Alex who has himself propped up on his forearms, one hand brushing stray hairs away from her face with gentle ambition, and her heart nearly gives out at the consideration to care in his countenance as he gazes tenderly back down at her. He has a fond habit of, after morning sex sessions, taking one of her hands in his and intertwining their fingers as he nuzzles his nose playfully against her own, and the familiarity of the motions makes Norma reciprocate the smile she feels in his kiss. Toes curling for the second time today – this time in simple happiness, not ecstasy – Norma breathes out a sigh of longing as her husband moves his lips away from her mouth, but it’s quickly disregarded as he plants little pecks down her jawline until he reaches his destination that is her neck. Letting out a small whimper of pleasure as he focuses on peppering that certain region with its fair share of attention, Norma’s thoughts unconsciously drift off to another reason why sex with Alex remains unparalleled.

It’s how he is always so keen on making sure she feels not only physically satiated but also constantly aware that every touch, kiss, murmur, and stroke is about her and not him that makes Norma begin to truly understand for the first time in her life why sex is also called making love. His protective nature for her causes Norma to enjoy the feeling of his body resting on top of hers, for before Alex, it had simply been a nuisance to deal with the dead weight of whoever she had been with, but the contact of warmth from his chest and his strong arms purely make up another aspect of the safety she always delights in when near him.

As he departs from the crook of her neck, Alex simultaneously pulls himself away from her, and Norma starts to flush at how empty she feels without him. Though she’s well aware of the obvious fact that the rest of the day demands their devotion, each time they’re forced to cut their post-sex cuddling sessions short she wishes they can stay right where they are for forever, lost yet newly found in these special moments of connection.

Swallowing back her bashfulness, Norma murmurs an off-handed, half-conscious comment about how she’ll need to do another load of laundry just for their bedding, and Alex chuckles at her never-ending loyalty to domestic chores.

“I can do it if you want,” he offers through his laugh, and though most of his comments about laundry are jokes – all in fond memory of how she’d done his against his will so many moons ago – Norma knows from the sincerity in those brown eyes that he means it.

Reassuring him that while she is grateful for his proposal, she’ll manage the bedding just fine; and Norma doesn’t expect Alex to say what he does next. She merely anticipates a few more hasty, passionate kisses to be exchanged before his duty as sheriff claims him until the hours before dusk, but now he’s asking if she’d like to get cleaned up with him. It takes her a minute to grasp what he’s hinting at, and when the notion of showering together fully forms in her bliss-filled mind, Norma beams and nods her nonverbal agreement as she tries to remember the last time they’d done just that. Conflicting schedules paired with end-of-the-day weariness from both of them don’t allow for many opportunities of this nature to arise, so perhaps that’s why there is an extra underlying layer of thrill from Norma’s end when Alex effortlessly scoops her up in those sculpted arms she adores so much with a vigor that, in another life, can only allude that he’s been looking forward to this occasion for a while.

“Alex!” Norma squeals, clinging to him and resisting the urge to take her turn at burying her face in a neck. “What about our clothes?”

Her response points out that they’ll just take them off in a moment, to which she wants to roll her eyes good-naturedly and comment that she means for _after_ they’re done. She makes him go back, and he insists on picking her up again to then set her down in the bathroom, and all she can do is ask herself how someone’s back can look so attractive. If she’s truly honest with herself, she’s also subtly blushing as she wonders if two marks will appear where the heels of her feet dug into that very same back just five minutes ago.

Alex interrupts her little wayward daydream of all the other ways she can physically claim him when he pulls his hand back from the flow of water and gestures for her to step into the tub. “The lovely Mrs. Romero first,” he winks, never passing up any opportunity to remind her that he loves her five month-old decision to legally change her name.

Looking back at their first time engaging in this very activity, Norma remembers herself becoming shy and self-conscious about her body, which seems ridiculous because she had just had sex and was perfectly comfortable with that, but it had been the sudden vulnerability of being bare in his presence without any prominent sexual initiative driving them both which had made her shift from foot to foot in anxiousness. She wasn’t ridiculously out of shape by any means, either – climbing three large sets of stairs at least twice a day did wonders – but she was aware that having Dylan and Norman had altered her body significantly from its original teenage form. Knowing that it was silly to compare past and present physiques with each other – especially since Alex knew neither her former shape, nor did he ever give any indication that her current one was any less than beautiful – had done little to ease her mind. Insecurity seemingly found its way into every crack and crevice where it wasn’t welcome, so Norma had nearly cried when Alex had taken extra attention in the shower that first time to tend to the spots where he knew she was most critical about.

Now Norma has the ability to push those fears aside, and as Alex squirts out a blob of shampoo and lathers it into her hair with his fingertips, she closes her eyes in sheer bliss at the familiarity of how good those hands she loves feel in her hair. As the conditioner works its magic, so does Alex with her loofah. She wants to stay serious to reciprocate the favor, but the concentrated determination on his face paired with the sight of a bright pink sponge in the hand of one of the most serious men she’s met causes her to let out a giggle, especially when the uneven material tickles a sensitive spot on her back.

_She wants to stay in this moment for forever too._

Alex seems to brighten at the noise and pauses to admire his handiwork, which Norma pretends to brush off his appreciative scrutiny with a scoff, but then when he runs his palms down her sides and settles them on her waist, Norma feels her breath hitch. The magical ability to make any place on her body become an erogenous one if caressed just right, either with his fingers or mouth (or both), belongs to her husband and him only, but her mind is far from the physical pleasure created from this particular touch, too engrossed in the wave of muddled emotions that rise up when he abandons the loofah momentarily to rub her soap-covered lower stomach with his bare hand. It’s an innocent enough motion, and maybe it’s just the hormones talking, maybe it’s the security she’s felt from him in the bedroom compelling her, but suddenly Norma is overcome with the irresistible urge to tell him about the only phenomenon that can possibly rival the miracle of how they found love within and for each other.

“Do you, um-” Suddenly she’s unsure of what exactly to say. This is not the time or place or way she’d expected to break her news. “Do you remember what I told you that you did to me?”

Perplexed but offering a cautious half-smile at what in the world she might be heading towards, Alex hesitates in his ministrations once more and says, “There’s a lot of things you’ve told me since I’ve met you.”

“On New Year’s Day at the fireworks thing.” Norma is quick to specify and shove down her nervousness.

Clarity dawns on the sheriff and he nods a few times. “Oh, yeah, of course. Something about moths in your throat?”

Norma moves to playfully bat at him for smirking, but then she realizes that he’s teasing and remembers the right wording from that night on the edge of the bay. It had been the second time she’d truly been so open about how much he meant to her and made her feel, with the first being that day she’d told him she loved him in the kitchen, so of course he hadn’t forgotten.

“Well,” she starts softly. “Those butterflies I said you put in my stomach have turned into little feet. I’m…I’m pregnant, Alex.”

It’s feels like the floor falls out from under her as the words tumble out. They sound clumsy somehow, and hearing the sentence out loud makes it all the more real, as if they were a bat swinging full force into a window made of glass pieces of denial. It’s not like she’d been upset when two pink lines had stared back up at her when the two-minute timer went off, for she and Alex had decided that they wanted a child to love and raise together and had started trying for one a few months ago; but she keeps eye contact with a seemingly speechless Alex Romero anyways. At his lack of immediate response, panic starts to rapidly build from within, but then he slowly comes out of his reverie, pulling Norma close to him and dips his head so he can resume his morning routine of planting kisses all over her upper half. This time there’s no sexual intent in this round of contact. Instead, it’s his way of expressing the elation at now _their_ news, for he can’t find the words that can properly embody his torrent of emotions. 

Finally he pulls back, asking, “Oh my god, are you serious?” in a shaky voice barely above a whisper, and from the hopeful smile on his face as he cradles her face in his hands, Norma can’t be convinced that the wetness on his face is from the shower water only.

“Yes!” she squeaks happily, only to be quickly cut off with another barrage of kisses. Then the questions start.

“How…how long have you known? Do you feel sick yet? You haven’t had any alcohol lately, right?”

Now wearing one of her brightest smiles, it’s impossible for Norma to help but be touched at his curious concern. “One thing at a time, hon. I’m about five weeks now, but I just found out about a week and a half ago. I won’t start feeling bad until a little later – actually, I never had really bad morning sickness with either of the boys – so you don’t have to worry for a while. And no, I stopped when I started to suspect I might be pregnant.”

The floor has been placed back to its resting place, and the world is now the object to fall away as Norma watches Alex beam at their overlapping hands that have taken back their residency on the spot he’d just been tenderly massaging. They stay in the shower, his touch never straying too far from that spot, until the water turns on the colder side of lukewarm, but neither mind because they’re too occupied in reveling in the joy of what the next eight months has to offer. When they finally step out, Alex wraps Norma in a towel and kisses her for what must be the millionth time this morning.

“Now I _really_ don’t want to go to work now,” he says, eyes still shining. Norma knows she must look silly, dripping droplets everywhere with her wet hair stuck in strings to the sides of her head and upper neck, but her husband has a way of making her feel beautiful at any moment he chooses.

Handing him one of his many black shirts, Norma tells him that staying home is always an option, and he has to tell her goodbye before he can give in to the appeal of crawling back into bed and taking her with him. She doesn’t think she’s ever seen him leave for work with such a wide smile, and is that a bounce in his step?

⭑ ⭑ ⭑

It’s around 12:30 when Norma’s phone buzzes, and she stops typing on the laptop in the motel office to take a look at it. She guesses it’s probably Alex, for he regularly checks in with her during his lunch break. Peering down at his signature way of way of texting, the content of it worded short and choppy but still full of meaning, she smiles at his best attempt at elegantly communicating in this particular manner.

_I’ll see you later. Just wanted to remind you that I love you._

Norma gives her head a small shake of amusement because she _should_ know that though most of his afternoon messages are phrased along the same lines, they never fail to make her grin like a fool, but it’s the next sentence that catches her off guard:

_Tell our baby that I love her too._

Norma barely registers that Alex already has a prediction – or maybe it’s a wish? – about their baby’s gender, for now it becomes more than obvious to her that having a child with Alex will be one of the best decisions she’s made. And suddenly she’s hoping the baby is a girl too, not only because the sudden visual of him sipping imaginary tea surrounded by stuffed animals makes her heart unsolicitedly beat a little faster, but also for the reason that Norma would finally be able to see the love from a father to his daughter that she missed out on growing up.

Norma thinks about how it’s taken her over forty years to finally find a man who truly cherishes her – which she’s still grateful for; better late than never – but nothing makes her happier in this moment than realizing that while a potential daughter of hers might endure heartbreak at some point or another, that Alex will be the first man in her young life to love her like she’ll deserve.

 _Maybe my husband’s love hasn’t been mine my whole life_ , she muses with a thoughtful look as she heads for the house for food. _But every day it’s like it has all along. If anything, me and this baby are at the beginning of discovering the meaning of exactly what a forever love should feel like._


End file.
